A coronavirus outbreak at a local hospital and a Champions League match played in Milan are thought to be among the main factors that contributed to an escalation of cases in Italy’s worst-affected province, Bergamo, its mayor has said. About 40,000 football fans from Bergamo travelled the 30 miles (50km) to Milan’s San Siro stadium on 19 February to watch their team, Atalanta, beat the Spanish team Valencia. “It was crowded in the stadium and then afterwards in the bars,” Giorgio Gori, the mayor of the city of Bergamo, told reporters via video link. “For sure, that night there was a strong escalation of contagion between people.” The death toll from coronavirus in Italy rose by 743 to 6,820 on Tuesday, dampening hopes that a slowdown in the rate of deaths on Sunday and Monday would follow a trend. However, the rate of new infections slowed for a third day, rising by 3,612, compared with 3,780 new cases on Monday. As of Tuesday night, there were 6,728 confirmed cases of coronavirus across the province of Bergamo. Valencia said last week that more than a third of their players and coaching staff had tested positive for the virus, implying in a statement that the club’s participation in the Champions League first-leg tie against Atalanta is linked to the high number of positive tests. The game was played two days before the virus suddenly emerged in Codogno, a town in the province of Lodi about 40 miles from Bergamo. About 2,500 Valencia fans travelled to Milan for the game, several of whom also tested positive, including a Spanish journalist. The outbreak in Bergamo province was first detected at a hospital in the town of Alzano Lombardo two days after Italy’s first locally transmitted case was confirmed in Codogno, which lies south of Milan. “The football match is one factor, but the hospital is the most credible explanation,” said Gori. “We don’t know exactly when, but on a certain day a patient turned up with pneumonia, but the symptoms weren’t recognised. That patient was together with other patients who became infected, as well as doctors and nurses.” Bergamo was not among the first 10 areas in Lombardy to be quarantined, only going into lockdown with the rest of the region on 8 March. The sheer number of patients and deaths in the province has overwhelmed hospitals and funeral services. The army was deployed last week to transport bodies from Bergamo city to neighbouring provinces after the crematorium became overwhelmed. Gori said that Bergamo, much like the rest of Italy, found itself unprepared for the outbreak. As of Monday, 134 out of 600 family doctors in Bergamo city were either sick with the virus or in quarantine. Across Italy, the virus has so far killed at least 24 medics, including Rosario Lupo, a coroner in Bergamo. During the early stage of the outbreak, many healthcare workers in Bergamo worked without sufficient protection. Medics from China and Cuba have come to Italy to help the country combat the virus, and teams from Russia and other countries are expected to arrive in the coming days. “Our defence was built as [the epidemic] grew, we underestimated the risks,” said Gori. “Knowing what was happening in China, the whole of Europe could have been better prepared. At the same time, we’re seeing governments who are not acting quickly enough.” Gori flew his two student daughters out of the UK because he felt the British government’s response to the pandemic was too slow. Gori added that he had been struck by the solidarity in the city of Bergamo amid the tragedy. About 600 volunteers are delivering food and medication to the elderly, and he said he had been overwhelmed with requests from people wanting to help the hospitals. “All our strengths and values are coming out,” he said. “There has been no complaining about the lockdown, people are respecting the rules. This is a positive aspect as we face our biggest challenge since the end of the second world war.”